“I’ve known you my entire life Evan! What is wrong with you?!” A man shouted at his companion, as a crowd grew. Guards approached.

“Nobody knows what you do half the time!”

Theo rushed through the city, tuning out another paranoid accusation as he sprinted as fast as his internal magic allowed him. He had already plotted out the fastest and more effective routes to get between everywhere he needed to be weeks ago, but even so the wind in his hair as he bounded above buildings was still pleasant.

A few weeks ago, the colleges had relaxed their rules on not using magic in public as a safety measure.

To say that it was a risk to be outside nowadays was an understatement. Loitering would lead to people paying attention to you, walking too fast would lead to people paying attention to you, walking too slow would lead to people paying attention to you.

In short, it didn’t matter what you did or tried to do. The longer you stayed in people’s vision, the more likely they would accuse you of being a spy for Etol. There wasn’t a secret police or any force doing something like that, just high tensions and paranoia and a scapegoat that anyone could fit.

If you were accused, you were required to be vetted by the city guard to ensure that you weren’t actually a spy. It took time to get processed (especially considering how many people were being accused), and it was an obviously nerve-wracking experience. Some even proactively approached the guard just so they wouldn’t have their day interrupted, which was an even stronger signal that they were spies, somehow.

It was all a mess, and Theo wondered if the vetting was actually useful or just there to make people feel safer. Either way, the Colleges had managed to bargain to sort it out internally, and thus students of the College didn’t have to worry, as long as they were able to display their identification coins to the guard when brought in.

That didn’t stop it from taking time out of everyone’s day, however, and after the fifth student was late to class and mentioned (or used as an excuse) spy vetting, they started approving any measure that was reasonably safe that would also mitigate further spy-related interruptions.

Hence the relaxation on rules around magic in public.

Theo tried to enjoy the freedom for what it is, but it was definitely more bittersweet than he would have liked.

He also found it odd that something that was so serious months ago was now just…the reason people were late to class. Everyone just got used to the paranoia somehow, and though it definitely bled through, it was just another thing to talk about in therapy.

Therapy had also become a regular part of his and many others’ lives, to Rowena’s quiet (but noticeably smug) satisfaction.

Speaking of…

“There you are!” She called out to him from the courtyard of the College of Song. Theo put aside those thoughts, and focused on the throng around a number of boards. She had a polite smile on her face, which meant a lot on her.

Finn was grinning ear to ear, not holding back at all. “You did great!”

It was now the middle of the end of year break, and while it was lovely to spend more time with everyone, his anxiety spiked from what he knew lurked in the middle of the crowd.

Grades.

Well, rankings, but if you failed utterly you were placed separate from the rankings below a line.

Even though he knew he must have done well, Theo’s palms were starting to sweat.

He looked over at the nine different lists, scanning for his name.

Espionage: 6th

Persuasion: 7th

General Knowledge: 3rd

Physical Combat: 5th

Survival: 2nd

Magic: 20th

Sound: 9th

Speech: 6th

Motion: 11th

Relief washed over him, and he felt something relax in his stomach. The results made sense.

Eleanor gave him the barest pass for Magic with his abilities the way they were. He was a lot better with casting actual action magic, but having a backfire during your exam was not a good look.

Theo tried to hide the wince, as he carefully swallowed.

He searched for a distraction, and the rest of his results were right there to provide.

Tome of Memories gave him what was, without argument, an unfair advantage on General Knowledge, and any memorisation component to every class. However, it wasn’t enough to completely replace the need to also know how to use that knowledge (as his rank in Magic showed).

Spending time at the Martial Exchange had become a regular date and hangout spot for Theo and Jenny, and it showed in his combat rank. Unfortunately, whatever epiphany he had been chasing still hadn’t appeared, and Theo had resigned himself to continuing the chase for a while yet.

His own results understood and digested, he turned his attention to the results of his friends and classmates.

The best ranked in Sound were, to nobody’s surprise, the regulars at the Arts Exchange. The other lists weren’t as predictable, aside from some first ranks.

“Congratulations!” Theo patted Rowena on the back. She blushed.

“I merely did what was expected of me.” From anyone else it would have sounded arrogant. She was first in Magic (which was why she was one of the few who was consistently able to beat Theo in Physical Combat).

“What, no praise for me?” Finn interjected, pulling Theo’s arm off Rowena and wrapping it around his own shoulder, while trying to surreptitiously wrap his own arm around Rowena’s waist. Her blushing only continued to intensity.

Theo looked over for Finn’s name, and found him third for Magic, and fifth for both Speech and Persuasion. “Wow, that’s amazing!”

“Hey, don’t sound so surprised!” Finn scolded, and broke out laughing moments later.

---

The next hour was filled with joyous celebration and subdued consolation, as their cohort went through and checked all their results.

They gradually migrated to the park, and mingled with the students from the other Colleges.

Every college released their results at the same time, which meant Jenny and his other friends not from the College of Song had clumped up to share and chat and complain together.

Finn was currently engaged in an argument with Francis about which College had worse teachers. Theo had no idea how Finn had gotten Francis out of his shell like that, but he wasn’t going to question a good thing.

“How did you go?” Jenny asked. Contrary to their usual routine of one person laying in another’s lap, they were sitting side by side, holding hands, and watching the chaos develop around them as people started bringing out wineskins to celebrate.

“Pretty good. Just wish The Dancing Wind was here to see it.” They had gone off on their next diplomatic mission to Etol as stated, and it was around the time they should have returned. Then again, given how it had dragged on the last time, Theo wasn’t too worried.

“How about you?” Regardless, he tried not to think about it as he listened to Jenny go into her results.

He failed, mind playing through scenarios of Sparrow in danger.

Not too worried still meant he was a little worried.